


hgjdfkljd

by John_Q_Sample



Category: Man Who Fell to Earth (1976)
Genre: Alcoholism, Gen, drabble? maybe?, everyone thinks the hotel is haunted
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-29
Updated: 2018-03-29
Packaged: 2019-04-14 08:29:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,319
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14132154
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/John_Q_Sample/pseuds/John_Q_Sample





	hgjdfkljd

Unfortunately, the hotel gained a massive reputation for being haunted. But who wouldn’t spread stories about the place? There the mysterious top floor, which, as the times changed, became the mysterious, closed-off half of the fifth floor. With scientists moving in and out regularly, and with the strangest sounds coming at the strangest times, it was almost impossible not to make up ghost stories. Some said that the place used to be an old hospital where ghosts were now seeking revenge for their unrest, and the scientists were simply trying to make amends.

The hotel had been featured on many so-called “ghost-hunting” shows, where people would book rooms on the fifth floor and make up some story about the voices they had heard in the middle of the night. Thomas Jerome Newton, not quite content in his prison but not irritated enough to leave yet, watched these on the large television at the end of his room and laughed drunkenly. He might as well have been a ghost haunting the place.

As the scientist came in for his usual work, he had to shoo some teenagers trying to get into the room just to see if the rumors were true. He spent a good deal of time rolling his eyes at the thought of this. Why couldn’t they just leave the man alone?

The front of the room was crowded with old storage that had been allowed to be placed there in a deal struck with the new hotel manager. They were lucky, too; moving the subject would have been far too complicated. He dealt with a lot but likely wouldn’t comply with something like that.

On the way, the scientist was met with the subject’s old friend, Dr Nathan Bryce.

“Oh, hello. Dr Bryce, is it?”

“Yes. Hello,” he said, adding some semblance of a smile to his face. He looked tired and worn, with his hair a deeper shade of grey than in the pictures the scientist had seen. “How is he?”

“Mr Newton? He’s fine. I’m just having a check-up, you know.”

“Must be confidential, I guess?”

The scientist shrugged. “It’s just routine to be sure he’s still healthy. We trust you enough that you can visit him from time to time.”

“I don’t know.”

“You can wait out here too if you like.” The scientist stepped forward and pushed open the doors.

Instantly, he was met with a gunshot. He let out a gasp and ducked down, shielding his face.

No bullet came, only the sound of Thomas’s laughter.

“No bullets,” he said, waving the gun around with a dangerous grin. “Just the sound! One of you scientists picked it up—guessing it wasn’t you, though.”

Bryce had come in to investigate the noises. Pausing at the door, he looked at Thomas.

“Nate?”

Bryce gave a small smile. “Haven’t seen you in a while.”

“Hmm,” Thomas murmured. He tossed the gun down by his side and stood from the bed.

Though he had not aged, he looked simply awful. He was paler and skinnier, and he held onto the bed’s headboard for support as he stood. Without his glasses, it was clear to see that dark circles had formed under his eyes.

“I’m just here for a routine check-up,” the scientist said, still unnerved by the greeting he had received. “And Bryce is here to visit, I suppose.”

Thomas watched his old friend with suspicion. “Why  _ did _ you come to visit?”

“I can’t visit a friend every once in awhile?” Bryce joked.

Thomas raised his eyebrow. “The last time you visited was when I first came here. It’s been years, according to that New Year’s Eve stuff they’ve been putting on the  news.”

“Listen, Thomas...”

“Mr Newton, would you please come over?” the scientist interrupted.

Thomas went and sat on the other side of the bed. The scientist instructed Thomas to remain still as a cuff to measure his blood pressure was slipped onto his arm. He closed his eyes and made himself breathe slowly, clearly trying to calm himself.

“Don’t like blood pressure tests?” Bryce asked.

“Don’t make me answer that.”

Thomas relaxed once the cuff was removed.

“You still haven’t answered my question, Nate.”

“Do I need to?”

Thomas frowned. “Do you...know where Mary Lou might be?”

Bryce’s breath hitched. Of course, Thomas hadn’t heard about the two of them. And he didn’t need to, after everything he had been through.

“No,” Bryce said.

“Hmm.”

“Take a deep breath,” the scientist said after having put a cold stethoscope against Thomas’s chest.

Thomas breathed deeply and waited for the scientist to tell him he could breathe normally again.

“This isn’t so bad, is it?” Bryce asked.

“Being trapped in an old hotel room and tested on regularly? No, it’s quite lovely.”

In their few visits, Bryce had never once explained his actions. By now, Thomas didn’t even care whether or not he did. It would not change the past, no matter how hard they tried.

“They don’t believe me,” Thomas pointed out. He looked over at the scientist. “You don’t believe me, do you?”

The scientist smiled uncomfortably. “Well...I believe your story has many interesting points that open up possibilities for further investigation. But I just do the check-ups. Would you like a drink, Mr Newton?”

Before Thomas could say anything, Bryce offered to pour out a drink for him and went over to the table beside the door. It was filled with several bottles and a few different glasses to choose from.

Bryce whistled as he poured a glass. “You’ve got a lot going on here, Thomas.”

Thomas didn’t say anything, only numbly accepted the glass as he finished the vision test.

“You’re just as bad as them,” Thomas murmured, bringing the glass to his lips.

“We’re still friends, aren’t we?”

“I suppose.”

Bryce bit the inside of his cheek and looked away.

He was silent, as instructed, during the hearing test. Then, the scientist said that thomas was doing just fine and offered them a few minutes alone to chat.

“So...where’d you get that gun of yours?”

“One of the scientists,” Thomas said, glancing over at it. “I think it might just be another experiment of theirs.”

“What, to see what you do with it?”

Thomas shrugged. He turned on the television and changed it to a channel playing old movies.

“A classic,” Bryce said.

“Nate, I’d really just like to know what you’re doing here,” Thomas said.

“Well...I’m still in contact with some of the older scientists, you know. Ones who are off the experiment now. I wanted to see if you were still doing well.”

“Ah.”

“You seem...fine,” Bryce said. “Are you?”

“I don’t know.” Thomas took another drink. “I really don’t know anymore.”

“You’ll make it.”

“How long do I have to ‘make it’?”

“Either they don’t know, or they don’t want to tell me.”

“That’s not reassuring.”

“It’s not meant to be.”

Thomas turned his focus back to the movie playing. Bryce watched from over the headboard.

“How is your family?”

Thomas glared over his shoulder.

“I was just wondering. Mary Lou told me you had a wife back on your home planet, and kids.”

“I don’t want to talk about them right now. How am I supposed to know how they are when they’re lightyears away, and I’m still here?”

“Sorry I brought it up.”

They watched the movie in silence. Then, finally, Bryce patted Thomas on the shoulder.

“Hey, I have to go. Work stuff.”

Thomas waved his hand around vaguely. “If you  _ do _ see Mary Lou, tell her that I said hello.”

“...I will, okay? And hang on. You’ll be fine here.”

“Hmm.”

Bryce walked out of the room and closed the door gently behind him. Thomas was left to finish the movie on his own, undisturbed by the scientists or the hotel guests for the rest of the night.


End file.
